5 More Things to Know About Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that can have serious health consequences. Read on for five more things you should know about this disease.

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Long-Term Health Consequences

Chlamydia is a common disease that is passed on through unprotected sex. This STD can have long-term health consequences. For women this can include pelvic inflammatory disease – an infection in the upper reproductive tract. There can be scarring in the tract, which can cause infertility. There could also be infection and fever, which could require a hospital stay. For women and men the infection can lead to arthritis, conjunctivitis and painful urination.

Chlamydia Can Pass to an Unborn Child

If a woman has the condition when pregnant, it can be passed on to her baby during childbirth. This can cause serious issues for newborns along with the painful symptoms. Illnesses that the child could get from the infection include eye infections and even pneumonia.

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Antibiotics Can Cure Chlamydia

Antibiotics are powerful drugs that can cure chlamydia. Examples are Zithromax and Doryx, and sometimes a single dose can be enough. At other times various drugs can be given over the course of a week. Most infections clear up within one week of treatment.

You Can Be Infected More Than Once

Chlamydia is not a disease that you build immunity to, so you can get infected more than once. This means even though you have been treated, you are at risk of infection again if you have sex with an infected person.

It is possible to screen yourself for chlamydia at home. You can buy Home STI kits that test for infection from specialists such as https://www.greenwichsexualhealth.org/chlamydia_screening/. These allow you to simply test yourself at home in privacy. People aged from 16 to 24 are also eligible for free home testing kits as part of the national chlamydia screening programme.

Chlamydia Is Preventable

It is simple to avoid contracting this disease. Using condoms for all types of sexual intercourse can protect you from chlamydia. You should also have regular health check-ups to screen for any diseases. Screening is painless and involves taking a swab from the vagina or a simple urine sample for men. You should be screened regularly if you are sexually active, as there are often no symptoms of Chlamydia, so you might not know there is an infection.

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